Business View Magazine | July 2020

131 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JULY 2020 BLACK MOUNTA IN SAND difference is that other sand is a mixture of several minerals and rocks types, which are less durable than quartz. Frac sand grains are unique in their resistance to being crushed, as well as their very round granule shape. This makes them ideal for use in the process of fracking. In-basin sand had just started making waves in the industry in the 2015/16 downturn. Historically, the alternatives were to procure sand from northern light sand, which originated in the hot spots of Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. That required a logistical cost burden of rail to bring sand from the origins in those Midwest states down to the ultimate basin where it would be used. So 2015/16 got its first foothold of using in-basin sand, particularly in the Haynes field. At that time, Black Mountain Sand’s focus was on upstream. It had an oil and gas operating company, a mineral company, a saltwater disposal company, and a saltwater midstream company, and started to see this trend towards in-basin sand. state-of-the-art facilities in the Eagle Ford Shale and Oklahoma’s Mid-Continent region. Today, about 550 employees work at the combined facilities. In total, the company’s facilities boast the largest in-basin mining capacity at 17MM annual tons. Its custom-designed throughput route averages just 2.5 minutes truck fill time with total time gate-to-gate averaging under 10 minutes. With significant overhead storage and a tried-and-true throughput system, Black Mountain is equipped to mine and maintain inventory, thereby quickly and efficiently handling high-volume orders to support clients’ tight completion targets. By definition, frac sand is a naturally occurring crystalline silica (quartz) sand that is processed from high-purity sandstone. In its make-up, frac sand differs only slightly from other types of sand, as grains of quartz silica are a major constituent of most inter-coastal sands. The